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The entrance to EPCOT. The monuments are etched with thousands of little images of people who paid to have their pictures put there.
This was our room at the Contemporary Resort. It was very nice.
This was on the monorail on friday afternoon. The teenager on her mother's lap was recoiling in horror from the little girl who had just told her she was a vampire.
It's always interesting to watch the people, in places like this. And the kids, of course. You see a lot of tired, irritated looking kids, being carried around by their parents... at eleven o'clock in the morning. And then you see happy kids like that one in late afternoon.
I had just gotten on the bus on afternoon, when three good looking little blond girls got on with their two good looking blond mothers, and their good looking blond mother. One girl who, I'd guess, was not quite four, ran up and jumped into the chair next to me. Her mother sat down next to her and said, "why don't you sit on my lap." Sensibly, since not only was the bus crowded, but you don't really want your kid sitting next to some old guy on the bus. I mean, who knows what kind of pervert he is? A guy by himself at Disney? Anyway, then the two-year-old came around and climbed up next to me. "Why don't you come back over here?" "No. I wanna sit here!" Then she squirmed around in the seat and saw me. She looked up at me, smiled and said "who are you?" "I"m Kevin. What's your name?" She said her name, and then told me something else. I said "Oh! Yeah." Her mother said to go back and sit by her sister and "stop bother Kevin." I didn't mind, really, but it's just as well because I couldn't understand a word the kid said. Then the girl on her mother's lap said, "sorry about that."
It's funny about communicating with strangers in a place like that. Any place, really, but it's more pronounced there, because everyone is there to have a good time. Why don't we talk to the people around us? We're all in it together. Why don't we act like it? I spent three solid days in the parks, and hardly spoke to anyone. Maybe it was more noticeable than usual, since I was by myself so much. I never really know how to strike up a conversation. I talked a little bit to the guy I was paired up with at Big Thunder Mountain. We mostly talked about the ride, though. That was just about it. That was fine. But why do we feel the need to keep inside our little bubbles?
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no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 07:05 am (UTC)From:Tess had a revelation when she was about 5 or so. I'd taught her to introduce herself to kids she didn't know. Trying to combat this adult phobia of talking to strangers, maybe?
So one time she was swimming in the kiddie pool at the JCC (Jewish Community Center...think "YMCA") in Albuquerque, and she cheerfully said, "Hi, I'm Tess!" and the older girl sneered at her and made some comment back like, "Who cares? You're weird!"
I felt like I'd been teaching my kid that Santa Claus is real or something. It was heartwrenching for me to hear the story, and yet....that's how we are, isn't it? We are not a friendly society..... on the surface.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-16 03:55 am (UTC)From:I spent three solid days in the parks, and hardly spoke to anyone.
Date: 2010-02-15 11:17 am (UTC)From:SOME places in the world we DO speak to strangers.. so much so that you can't get away from it if you desire.
That was the biggest discomfort for me when I lived in those areas outside of the deep south (and no, despite its location, Florida is NOT considered south.. any more than California is considered west) is that NO BODY SPOKE.. even if you lived next door to them for a year or more, they still would not acknowledge you verbally. WEIRD.
Re: I spent three solid days in the parks, and hardly spoke to anyone.
Date: 2010-02-16 03:53 am (UTC)From:Re: I spent three solid days in the parks, and hardly spoke to anyone.
Date: 2010-02-16 11:39 pm (UTC)From:Secretary (at work) is in part so incomprehensible to me because she is New York raised (even she does not LIKE that) and AGGRESSIVE in her protection of privacy. To the point of anger if someone looks at her, or asks a *IMO* legitimate question of one in her job.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 12:16 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-02-16 03:55 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 12:59 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-02-16 03:50 am (UTC)From:Funny that when I do see someone for the second time, they either don't see or recognize me, or just don't want to be friendly.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-17 11:48 am (UTC)From:The lady from Costa Rica talked to me at 3 different parks and she had her family take pictures of us the last time we saw each other which was in one of Disney's eating places! To run in to each other 3 times at 3 different parks was unusual even for me!
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Date: 2010-02-17 06:08 pm (UTC)From:I don't know if you caught it, but I posted this earlier...
"Then I saw the rest of the park, and went back to Space mountain for a second ride, since the lines were so short. I saw two little girls by themselves, two people behind me in line. They had been two people in front of me, the last time. I figured they were just riding it over and over, but I asked, and this was only their third time. Funny coincidence."
That was weird, not because I saw the kids again, but they rode the same ride again, the same time as me. And not only that, but they were exactly two people away from me each time. And I wouldn't have noticed them if they had been behind me, rather than in front of me the *first* time.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 03:58 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-02-16 03:49 am (UTC)From:talking to others
Date: 2010-02-15 06:38 pm (UTC)From:It's hard not to talk to kids when they start talking to you; and I've gotten more comfortable with it over the years. But I *totally* know what it's like to not understand a word that a really little kid is saying. :-)
no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 10:40 pm (UTC)From:But we've had people stop us and ask about the t-shirts we were wearing.
My moon rover/JPL....any of our New Orleans....Green Bay Packers....and the big hit is Stan's 'enjoy weed' in the Coke lable style.